The Grim Condition
by Elliot Grace And Theories
Summary: Grim 307β - Grim Reaper of Suicides, known better as Levi, only wants to finish his sentence. He calculates two more decades of work before he is reinstated as a guardian angel. He may not remember his crime, but he doesn't need to. He just needs to leave the life of a Grim behind. That is, until he meets Unsolicited Soul 43α - a ghost who stands between him and his purpose.
1. Montea Cliff

**So. Long time no seeing on this site. What a break I've taken…. And here's a new one!**

 **Just trying it out to see the reception, though it is fully planned and mostly written.**

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 **Disclaimer: me no own-no. Just this concept.**

 **Trigger Warning: this fic does discuss death, specifically suicide.**

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 **Chapter One**

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 **Suicide Soul Collection – Location: Montea Cliff**

01:44a.m. – Robert Andell – 42

4:21a.m. – Pablo Nunie – 36

9:47a.m. – Jocelyn Groom – 16

3:48a.m. – Greg Ash - 44

Waves crashed against a rocky beach, violently spraying water on Levi's black coat as he sat atop a boulder. He paid it no mind as he flipped through the clipboard he held. He reached the page labelled 'Montea Cliff', and began reading through it with disinterest.

Four collections. Acceptable, for such a boring location. Cliff bases were not his favourite, no matter the beauty of the beach. His watch beeped, and he didn't need to check to see who it was. Tapping the interface, he flipped through to the next page.

'Keep it quick, sunshine. A card game is waiting for you in the foyer,' Aurou's voice sounded distracted, Levi imagined, because he was dealing the very cards he was speaking of.

'Start without me.'

An exasperated sigh. 'Just hurry up, Levi. I checked your schedule, you're not meant to be down for another couple of hours. Get the first collection out of the way and come. You can be mopey and melodramatic here.'

Levi glimpsed at the watch, locating the time.

1.43a.m.

'Gotta go,' he tapped to end the call, but not before catching the beginning of Aurou's very colourful vernacular. Tucking the clipboard into his coat, Levi glanced upwards to the top of the cliff. He could see it – a falling body, flailing in the strong wind. It thudded against the gravelly sand before he could pick up his scythe and stand straight.

He was bloodied, and as the man – Robert Andell – attempted to move his limbs in his final moments, Levi heard the grinding of his broken bones, the raggedness of his breath. His fingers twitched in the sand.

A glance at his watch showed there were only the final ten seconds left.

Nine.

Eight.

Seven.

Six.

Five.

Four.

Three.

Two.

One.

The twitching and weak breathlessness ended. A man materialised beside the body in a flurry of smoke. He was dressed in white, a stark contrast to Levi's attire. It was a cold reminder of his rather ungraceful fall from grace, so he simply glared.

'Nice to see you, too.' The guardian angel said.

'Don't mock me.'

'I'm doing no such thing.' He looked affronted.

'You're well aware that I have no memories of my past. Why would you say something so obviously intended to make a point if not to –'

' – I was simply being pol –'

'Just give me the _name_ ,' Levi snapped in the end.

The guardian angel grimaced. 'Robert Andell.'

An invisible force that he didn't realise was there until it disappeared was lifted off of him.

'Great. Thanks. Fuck off now.'

The guardian angel was still staring at him, and Levi was hit with the feeling that he always was whenever a guardian angel signalled their recognition of him – a pressuring need to remember, and then an overwhelming desire to suppress. This angel knew him once, knew him better than he knew his past self. He didn't remember why, but quelling curiosity was necessary if he wanted to get through this job. He understood, somewhat unconsciously, that it was what landed him in this mess. _Curiosity doomed the angel._

'You weren't such a bastard before. What happened to you?' The guardian angel regarded him with a look of peculiarity.

'Fuck, if I know.'

The guardian angel didn't have a response, and simply dematerialised. Good riddance.

Readjusting his grip on his scythe, Levi touched the tip of it into Robert Andell's neck. When he pulled it away, a smoke-like ribbon of a soul seeped from the body, disappearing into the scythe. He offered the disfigured body a moment's look, wondering not for the first time why humans thought cliff suicide were a good idea. They were dirty, bloody, and wholesomely gruesome, which didn't affect him, but he imagined affected the people who eventually found the remains. Humans are like that, he thought. Weak, easily moved, emotional. _Sentimental._

He turned away when his watch beeped once more. Resisting an eye roll, he answered the call.

'It's 1.47a.m. Time for you to take a clearly undeserved break.' Aurou's grumbling was heard in the background.

'Aurou's too upset to talk, is he?' Levi asked flatly. 'Tell him to shove it.'

A moment of mumbled voices as Gunther, who Levi recognised as the caller, relayed his message. When someone came back on, it was Aurou's. 'Come and say that to my face, you slimy bastard.'

A retort was at the tip of his tongue when he heard the wisping of air above his head. A thud sounded behind him before he could look up. He turned around, confused at the source of the noise. His eyes located a body, fallen fifty feet away in the sand. Its chest heaved heavily, and stunned, Levi watched. Another body?

'Levi?'

He took out his clipboard, searching the page. Robert Andell's name was now crossed out, but Pablo Nunie's remained, scheduled for hours later.

'Levi?' Aurou's voice took on a more serious tone. 'Everything alright?'

'I don't know,' he answered. 'I just got a body, but no listing.'

He approached the body, which had stopped moving. Most certainly dead. It was a woman, in her twenties, donning a white dress. He spotted blood trickling out from under her stomach. A hard fall.

'Could it be another grim's?' Aurou asked.

'I'm the only one assigned to Montea Cliff,' agitation creeped into his voice, but he couldn't help it. He looked around. Her guardian angel should've been here already…

'What does it mean if there's no guardian angel?' He asked Aurou, flipping through the clipboard in case he somehow missed something.

'Is that even possible?'

He had no time to reply because the woman began to move. No – her _soul_ moved. It lifted from the body, getting to its feet shakily. A ghost, now looking down at the woman in the sand. Its figure was translucent, slowly solidifying until she stood before him as a solid person.

She looked up, dark eyes finding his. Her lips twisted into a frown as she looked back at the body in confused scrutiny.

He was rendered speechless.

'Who is that?' she asked, voice brimming with uncertainty and wonder. She glanced back up at him.

'Who are you?'

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 **Hmm. Hello again. Let me know what you think! Hated it? Liked it? Confused by it? Any comment, criticism or otherwise, is welcome.**


	2. Superior

**Posting two chapters in succession since the first chapter was relatively short.**

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 **Disclaimer: I wish.**

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 **Chapter Two**

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The ghost was an absolute spectacle for the grim reapers at the Grim Association. The monotonous life of card games and dragging shifts left many of them bored out of their minds, and a ghost offered the perfect diversion.

'What is _that_?' one grim asked as Levi dragged the ghost by her arm through the Grim Association lobby. He didn't reply because the grim was a fucking bastard and he also didn't have a proper answer. The ghost was too distracted by her surroundings to be aggravated by his tight grip, and didn't say a word until they reach the elevator. They stepped into the first one to hit the ground floor, surrounded by several grims who were a mixture of affronted and beyond themselves with glee.

'Whose the Bloody Mary?' a grim asked with a gleam in her eye, plucking at the ghost's bloody dress. He remembered her name to be Mischief, the grim of pranks – or rather, pranks that go wrong (read: end in death). The nature of her job had left her in perpetual pursuit of excitement, which the ghost seemed to be adequate to provide.

The ghost stepped back and narrowed her eyes at Mischief's seediness. 'Who are _you_?' she returned.

Mischief grinned. 'Ooh, it speaks.'

'Watch it.'

'Levi? Where'd you get her from?' Mischief redirected her gaze to him.

He preferred not to answer, but Erwin's office was on the thirteenth floor, and they'd only just stopped at the third, and ignoring her was simply not worth the hassle.

'She died on my shift.'

'So that body _was_ me?' the ghost interjected.

'Where?'

'Montea Cliff, Perth. There wasn't an angel in sight.'

Mischief gave him that _look_. People often looked at him like he was lying, which was strange because he never was. He couldn't understand why, and when he saw the doubt, he found he often couldn't think of a response that wouldn't reinforce their assumption.

He looked away, which was a mistake because the ghost caught his eyes and he was suddenly forced to acknowledge her. 'Why can't I remember anything? Who am I?' she asked him expectantly.

'Ghosts don't have a recollection of their memories on earth. It's against Grim regulations.' Mischief answered for him.

The ghost frowned. 'That's stupid.'

'Blasphemy is dangerous.' Mischief warned ominously, but the serious line of her lips broke into a snarky grin and she stepped off when the elevator stopped on the eighth floor. The remainder of the grims emptied on the tenth, and the journey up to the thirteenth was mercifully quiet.

When they stepped out, his hand went to grab her again, but she moved away. 'I can walk,' she said, on edge. The charm of the lobby had clearly worn off. He spun around without a word, walking down the corridor and taking a left turn to their destination.

He knocked on the office door twice, and upon no response, opened it and stepped in.

Erwin, the Superior Grim, sat behind his desk, feet propped up on the illuminated marble and a book in hand. He regarded Levi with mild irritation that he masked with a smile.

'Mannerless, as always.' He said cheerily, but he caught sight of the ghost behind him and put the book down curiously. 'What do we have here?'

Growing frustrated that he at his inability to properly answer that question in various forms, multiple times in a row, Levi made an exaggerated hand gesture. 'Superior, meet the Bloody Mary that dropped out of the sky to grace us with her ghostly presence.'

The ghost gave him a pointed stare. Erwin looked between them.

'I'm going to need more than that, Levi.'

'She died on my shift when she's not on my list. I only have four listings scheduled at that location, and she matches none of their descriptions. And would you believe it? No angel. That leaves me with three mysteries, Erwin. Three fucking problems. No listing, no name, no angel.' He counted them on his fingers to punctuate his point.

'Sounds like a problem indeed.' Erwin acknowledged, standing. 'Well, no matter. Happens sometimes. I'll get her scanned through the AIS. She's sure to have an imprint on her. We'll get the angel in and get her name. Solved your problems for ya, sunshine.' He clasped a hand on Levi's tense shoulder as he moved past.

'Come along, Bloody Mary. We shall have you scanned.' He led the ghost out with a hand pressed to her back. Levi followed them down the corridor they came through.

'That sounds menacing,' the ghost muttered.

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Levi crossed his arms as he watched the ghost lay on the scanning table through the glass. Various grims poked and prodded her until she was laying in the correct form, pushing her blonde hair out of way, tugging her leg this way and that. She grumbled at their invasiveness, but was otherwise quiet as the table slid into the scanning tube of the AIS – Angel Imprint Scanner. He watched her disappear into the machine.

'What an odd case,' Erwin mused. 'There have been many cases of humans dying earlier than their scheduled time, a consequence of a poorly qualified angel, but it is almost unheard of for those angels to not own up. What's done is done, and a soul must move on to the Afterlife.' He paused as the scanning table slid out of the tube. 'It is cruel to drag out a soul's time on earth.'

'She looks the very soul of tormented,' Levi commented drily, watching the ghost huffily get to her feet and dust off her dirty dress with an indignant expression.

The grim in charge of the AIS pressed some buttons on the control board in front of him with a dramatic flair. It simply amazed Levi that creatures of death could express such enthusiasm for anything. The position of grim reaper positively _drained_ him of any zeal he may have ever had. A few more buttons, and a set of papers printed in the printer under the board. The grim stapled and handed them to Erwin with great panache, who took it with a charmer's grin. 'You are recognised for your service.'

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Back in Erwin's office, Levi sat in one of the chairs across the desk, shaking his leg incessantly as Superior flipped through the scan results. He refused to acknowledge the ghost, who finally succumbed to her curiosity regarding the strange office. She touched things at random, hands gliding over glowing orbs and jars of illuminated human organs. She tapped the head of a Satan bobblehead, and jumped back when it let out a loud burp.

'Curiouser and curiouser,' Erwin mumbled as he read the report, and the ghost peered up. 'Well, there's a reason she had no angel to submit her soul. She doesn't have one.' He put the papers down.

Levi quirked a brow. 'That's impossible. Every soul is assigned a guardian angel.'

'She _had_ one, but they are gone. The last imprint of an angel was over fifteen years ago. Looks like they went MIA. They haven't been replaced since. No wonder she died early – no angel was on the job to look out for her. That department really needs to pick up after its mess.' He shook his head.

Levi withheld a sigh of frustration. 'So, what does that mean? You have a Plan B for ghosts, I'm sure.'

'Well, she's going to die sometime in the next few decades, give or take. Her listing will come up eventually, and when it does, and there's no dead body to connect it to, it's guaranteed to be hers. Until then, she needs to be monitored,' Erwin explained simply, like it was common knowledge.

'What are the chances? She's died early, _and_ she's unguarded. You've got some rotten luck, you,' Levi directed the last comment at the ghost, who rolled her eyes.

'Almost as rotten as yours,' Erwin agreed.

'So, she'll be collected without an angel submitting her soul? That's against the rules. The first rule of being a guardian angel is ensuring the safe submission of your client to a grim reaper.'

'There's exceptions to every rule. She has no angel, so she has no bond that will prevent a grim from collecting her. All you need is a name from the listing, and she'll be on her merry way,' Erwin nodded with a smile that told Levi that he couldn't be less interested in this case. He looked back down at the report. 'There's more, though it's a minor detail. She's particularly vulnerable to demon activity, though, I suspect this is because she is unguarded. It's logical to presume that she could've been forced into an untimely death by one. That's just a possibility.' This didn't concern Levi in the slightest.

'Well,' he stood, feigning an air of nonchalance, 'sounds fantastic, Superior. I'm sure you have some unfortunate grims who do this shit jazz. I'll leave the Bloody Mary in your care.' He made a quick escape for the door but barely touched the handle before Erwin coughed.

'That'll be you, sunshine.'

Levi turned around menacingly slowly, narrowing his eyes as threateningly as he could muster. 'What?'

'She wouldn't have appeared on your shift if she wasn't going to be one of your listings. It's only logical that you be the one in charge of supervising her.'

Levi only stared with a grimace, which Erwin freely laughed at. 'Don't look so surprised. You think only guardian angels are special? It's basic knowledge around here that the souls you encounter on your shift are assigned to you the same way they are to angels.'

'Literally no one's told me that.'

'Well, you've got less than two decades of experience. I'm sure you'll grasp the ropes with time,' Erwin smiled.

'What does this mean? What about…' Levi looked at the ghost uncertainly. Erwin waved a hand, encouraging him to forget her presence. 'What about my situation? I've got less than four thousand souls left to collect. What if her time doesn't come until she was meant to turn ninety? You can't hold back my reinstatement for this.'

'I don't make the rules, Levi, and I could care less about your reinstatement. It's null until you collect every single soul that you are assigned to, including Mary here. So, stop making that face and go. Both of you.'

Levi's gripped the doorhandle tightly as he jerked it open, though he only took two steps before Erwin called out, 'don't forget your new buddy.'

Forcing himself to take calming breaths, he waited for the ghost to shuffle past him awkwardly. Then, she stopped. Levi pinned her with a look of agitation, until he realised she was looking down at something in her hand. A handkerchief, pulled out of the small pocket of her white dress. She stretched it open, glancing down at the name embroidered in green along its corner. _Petra_.

Levi paused. Petra? Was that her name?

She seemed to think so too. It was almost a glimmer of hope, until he remembered that she was blocking his way. He pushed her back impatiently.

'Levi,' Erwin said before he could slam the office door shut. 'I'll talk to the board and see if there's any other alternatives, but I hope you can adjust to the situation since it's unlikely that there is. You are recognised for your service.' The final words signalled the end of the conversation and they echoed in his head – remnants of a past he couldn't remember, and a part of his present job. They reminded him that guardian angels and grim reapers weren't as different as he thought, no matter how much he liked to disparage the darker creation. He shut the door with less anger than he initially intended to.

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Card games in the foyer were typically held between a dozen or so grims since the leisure and kitchen room were usually too loud. When Levi arrived with a ghost in tow, however, he saw that only four grims were currently at the table.

Aurou put down his cards as soon as he spotted him, eyes travelling to the ghost. 'Ah,' he commented when they reach the table. 'I see the source of the confusion. Never thought I'd see a ghost in the flesh,' he paused, then cackled at his own joke.

Gunther joined in, while the two other grims, Hanji and Erd, pinned the ghost with varying looks of curiosity and uncertainty. Hanji in particular got a glint in her eye that Levi was fairly used to seeing.

The ghost didn't shy away once she realised that she'd become a point of wonder. 'I'm Petra,' she introduced, sticking out her hand. Levi blanched at her. _She was going to adopt the name, was she_? he thought. The nerve of her to make herself at home at a place where every occupant's sole purpose was to send her to the other side. The grims all stared at her for an uncomfortably long moment before Erd shook it.

'I get it,' he laughed, looking down at her bloodied dress. 'That's bloody fantastic!'

He offered her the chair beside his, which was usually reserved for Levi. Levi tried not to pull a muscle from frowning too deeply.

'I'm going, I've got a listing,' he said gruffly. Aurou snatched his sleeve as he turned away.

'Whoa, whoa. Where to? You gonna just leave her here? What's going on?'

Levi fixed him with a glare, the wound of his current predicament too fresh for him to explain it in detail. 'She's already fucking dead, what's the worst that can happen? Just do whatever with her – or don't. I don't care. I'm going.'

He walked away, but not before hearing what they all had to say.

'Did he just leave us to babysit a ghost?'

'Don't worry, Petra. Here, I'll teach you this card game.'

'What if she gets blood on the chair?'

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 **What do you think?**


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